Ivory Coast: Former First Lady’s Warrant Is Rejected

In the latest snub to the International Criminal Court by an African government, Ivory Coast has decided it will not send Simone Gbagbo, left, the wife of former President Laurent Gbagbo, to the court in The Hague to stand trial with Mr. Gbagbo on charges of crimes against humanity.

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Simone GbagboCreditRebecca Blackwell/Associated Press

The charges are related to a civil war that erupted in 2010 after Mr. Gbagbo refused to leave office despite losing a runoff election. The government said Friday that the country’s own courts had been “rehabilitated” after the war and were now capable of granting Mrs. Gbagbo a “fair and equitable trial.”

But Ivory Coast remains politically divided, too much so to try Mrs. Gbagbo calmly, in the view of some human rights officials. The civil war was fomented partly by Mrs. Gbagbo, according to the I.C.C., which issued an arrest warrant for her in February 2012.

Several African nations have recently threatened to withdraw from the I.C.C., with Ivory Coast becoming the latest to question, indirectly, the court’s jurisdiction in Africa.

A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Ivory Coast: Former First Lady’s Warrant Is Rejected. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe